This is going on the rise as social medial glamourizes people under the influence, people start doing stuff like in bigger numbers because in the social circles (and social media) it's ok. Anyways that's my theory.

A couple of weeks ago a member here on BITOG posted that his wife who was a 911 operator was killed by a drunk driver.

Do a google search for "wikipedia yearly vehicle deaths" in the USA. Every year more than 32,000 people are killed in motor vehicle accidents here in the US. And a good portion of them are due to drunk driving, or driving while using a cell phone.

It never ends with these drunks behind the wheel. This is whats get me..

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She was fined $150 and given a trial date of May 23

Good God she should be behind bars until the trial then go to prison for a long time. Course then there would be outrage and protest for being too hard on midgets. We live in a truly screwed up world. Just watch, this hooch hound will end up being a victim and go to rehab and that poor guy and his family forgotten.

Years ago I worked with an electronics engineer who told a story about being arrested for being a passenger in a vehicle with a drunk driver while in the Arab country of Bahrain (an island that is a country, that unlike other Arab countries allows the sale of alcohol). The punishment for drunk driving was a firing squad for everyone in the vehicle. It took quite a lot of doing to get them freed.

Good God she should be behind bars until the trial then go to prison for a long time. Course then there would be outrage and protest for being too hard on midgets. We live in a truly screwed up world. Just watch, this hooch hound will end up being a victim and go to rehab and that poor guy and his family forgotten.

She is:

Quote:

She was fined $150 and given a trial date of May 23 for a felony aggravated DUI manslaughter charge.

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Hancock, who had just moved to Virginia Beach a few weeks before, was working in insurance sales, according to a bail determination sheet in her court file. She has prior convictions for marijuana possession and reckless driving.

I don't understand the lenience on drunk/impaired drivers. The first dui arrest should wake you up. If it does not, the second one should be the forfeit of the vehicle( his or whoever loaned it to him) and jail time. They don't take cars until the 5 time or so.

I can't speak to the number of DUI, or DWI, I might have passed on the road today coming from seeing the grand kids (700 + miles). But I couldn't keep track of the number of people I saw driving with one hand on the wheel and texting/looking at their phones with the other hand. It was eye-opening, and scary, at the same time. And, a lot of those I saw doing this weren't teenagers either. Not setting a very good example for younger drivers.

I can't speak to the number of DUI, or DWI, I might have passed on the road today coming from seeing the grand kids (700 + miles). But I couldn't keep track of the number of people I saw driving with one hand on the wheel and texting/looking at their phones with the other hand. It was eye-opening, and scary, at the same time. And, a lot of those I saw doing this weren't teenagers either. Not setting a very good example for younger drivers.

Being up high in the Colorado, you see all of that very clearly...it's truly frightening.

Couple years ago, they closed down the highway out of town, and pulled over every vehicle for a week...over 8,000 drivers tested, and less than 50 driving impaired (substance impaired, fatigue is another issue)..

Of the more than 33,619 motorists tested by police last year, more than 720 of them were found to have drugs in their system.

This is in stark contrast to one in 208 motorists caught driving over the alcohol limit.

"We began drug testing motorists in 2007 after a study showed high marijuana use in fatal accidents,'' Mr Hartley said. "It was a bit of a wake-up call and we have been increasing testing every year.''

Police are changing too, with less people driving after drinking, moving to morning testing to catch those driving after a binge night.

Good bad or indifferent the fact is marijuana does clearly cause issues with people driving. This phenomenon is lost on the people in favor of this stuff... And.... I will add this.... That stuff cause some people to become voilent... Just like alcohol does. I have seen that first hand. I am willing to bet the farm it's the same percentage as alcohol. 20-25%.

Having said all that... I do think it can help some people as well. That it can do that is a good aspect of it. However, it needs to be within reasaon and people having for that reason need to be closely monitored. And if it makes them more prone to anger and voilent behaviour. . It must be discontinued. I took a FDA approved medication for my illness and within a week of taking it I started to really struggle with my temper. A lot. I stopped taking it because I was not myself. About two weeks after stopping it my mom asked me if I was still taking it. I told her no. And I told why. She told me she noticed that I was much more like myself again. So... Even approved medication can greatly affect us in psychological and emotional ways. This drug is CERTAINLY NO different.

Some of the reasons I chose to say "Boy will I be happy when ALL vehicles on public roads are autonomous." is because along with doing away with the crashes caused by human error, autonomous vehicles will also do away with the crashes caused by; DUI, DWI, and driving while distracted.

Of the more than 33,619 motorists tested by police last year, more than 720 of them were found to have drugs in their system.

This is in stark contrast to one in 208 motorists caught driving over the alcohol limit.

"We began drug testing motorists in 2007 after a study showed high marijuana use in fatal accidents,'' Mr Hartley said. "It was a bit of a wake-up call and we have been increasing testing every year.''

Police are changing too, with less people driving after drinking, moving to morning testing to catch those driving after a binge night.

"Have drugs in their system" and being over a statutory limit for alcohol don't seem, on the face of it, comparable cases, assuming the alcohol limit is based on impairment.

Cannabis, for example, is extremely persistent in the body and its metabolites may be detectable in urine a month after last use, when there may no longer be any demonstrable impairment.

Of the more than 33,619 motorists tested by police last year, more than 720 of them were found to have drugs in their system.

This is in stark contrast to one in 208 motorists caught driving over the alcohol limit.

"We began drug testing motorists in 2007 after a study showed high marijuana use in fatal accidents,'' Mr Hartley said. "It was a bit of a wake-up call and we have been increasing testing every year.''

Police are changing too, with less people driving after drinking, moving to morning testing to catch those driving after a binge night.

"Have drugs in their system" and being over a statutory limit for alcohol don't seem, on the face of it, comparable cases, assuming the alcohol limit is based on impairment.

Cannabis, for example, is extremely persistent in the body and its metabolites may be detectable in urine a month after last use, when there may no longer be any demonstrable impairment.

I agree...

That's why the roadside drug tests are cheek swabs (just like the one pictured in the article that I linked to). Not a urine test, and a positive swab doesn't initiate a urine/blood test either. Active cannibis, opiates, coke, and meth.

They are a PITA, as there's about a 15min turnaround, and you have to sit there for that and wait.

At work, we have random D and A. 0.02% BAC and a cheek swab.

Local mines do cheek swabs for the miners, and urine tests for the office workers...that's pretty telling.